Within a space of months, AMC has become embroiled in messy public fights with the creators of its top three shows -- Mad Men, Breaking Bad and now Walking Dead. The battles have been about money, but in this case, at least, it was more of a slow burn than a sudden flare-up. Sources say last fall, even before the first episode of the show had aired, AMC let it be known that it would effectively slash the show's second-season budget per episode by about $650,000, from $3.4 million to $2.75 million. AMC cut the budget and pocketed a tax credit previusly applied to the show.

It sounds as if AMC's executives are great at being entrepreneurs (getting/picking new ideas, getting those ideas started) but terrible at being administrators (long-term planning, the grind of actually dealing with talent/employees). It's a common problem in business, actually.

I'm sure many will think AMC's previous executive choices were luck (talent falling into their hands), but being an entrepreneur is a very different skill-set from being an administrator. It wouldn't surprise me if these guys really are great at picking new shows and getting them going. They just need to hire better people for everything that comes afterwards.

But this source says that AMC had its own ideas about how to make the show more cheaply. The show shoots for eight days per episode, and the network suggested that half should be indoors. "Four days inside and four days out? That's not Walking Dead," says this insider. "This is not a show that takes place around the dinner table." That was just one of what this person describes as "silly notes" from AMC. Couldn't the audience hear the zombies sometimes and not see them, to save on makeup? The source says Darabont fought "a constant battle to keep the show big in scope and style."

Click to expand...

If true, this Attack of the Bean Counters is the kind that has cluelessly killed many projects.

But this source says that AMC had its own ideas about how to make the show more cheaply. The show shoots for eight days per episode, and the network suggested that half should be indoors. "Four days inside and four days out? That's not Walking Dead," says this insider. "This is not a show that takes place around the dinner table." That was just one of what this person describes as "silly notes" from AMC. Couldn't the audience hear the zombies sometimes and not see them, to save on makeup? The source says Darabont fought "a constant battle to keep the show big in scope and style."

Click to expand...

If true, this Attack of the Bean Counters is the kind that has cluelessly killed many projects.

AMC's star could fall as fast as it rose.

Click to expand...

Those suggestions aren't really all that terrible (especially if they're just on-the-cuff questions rather than a directives from above). There are certainly creative ways to spend a couple episodes in closed sets. Hell, these guys are trying to survive a zombie outbreak. It's perfectly reasonable to have them hiding in enclosed spaces occasionally or arguing with other survivors over how to best protect their hiding places.

Most SF/F shows depend upon having a few bottle episodes in order to save money for the big smash-em-up episodes. I get that they're trying to make every episode special, but bottle episodes can be special in the right hands (check out Babylon 5's "Intersections in Real Time" as an example).

Sure, it might have been excessive to put half the episodes indoors, but that's (hopefully) just a starting point for some discussions.

Edit: Also, I've read the comics, and there are certainly plot-lines that lend themselves to long-term (even indoor) sets. They could even plan ahead (assuming the script-writers can get ahead of the filming a bit) and have a few outdoor scenes in-the-can for the periods without out-door filming.

While I certainly agree that suit-and-tie interference in creative matters is a bad thing, and reflexively came down on the side of the producers, that is a pretty high budget for a cable TV show. Why is it that high? Because of all the location shooting? In any case, I don't think it's really unreasonable for them to want to keep the budget under three million dollars when other shows manage on half that.

[...] that is a pretty high budget for a cable TV show. Why is it that high? Because of all the location shooting? [...]

Click to expand...

I can't imagine it's just location shooting. As the HR article points out, the show has been receiving a 30% tax credit for shooting in Georgia - money that, with season two, AMC has decided to hold onto rather than use for the show.

While I certainly agree that suit-and-tie interference in creative matters is a bad thing, and reflexively came down on the side of the producers, that is a pretty high budget for a cable TV show. Why is it that high? Because of all the location shooting? In any case, I don't think it's really unreasonable for them to want to keep the budget under three million dollars when other shows manage on half that.

Click to expand...

Location shooting can be pretty expensive. Back in the day, NBC had a series called Earth 2. Putting aside complaints of quality, it was doing average in the ratings. But it's budget was high, because most of the series was shot outdoors.

"why darabont got fired - weiner. he held AMC hostage, broke their bank, budgets were slashed, shit rolled down hill onto gilligan and frank," he tweeted Thursday, the first in a series of missives. He immediately followed up, writing, "no one else wants to f*cking say it, but the greed of mad men is killing the other two best shows on tv -- breaking bad and walking dead."

AMC had to slash its budgets after Mad Men showrunner Matthew Weiner renegotiated his lucrative deal with the network. "Why Darabont got fired -- Weiner," tweeted Sutter. "He held AMC hostage, broke their bank, budgets were slashed, shit rolled down hill onto [Breaking Bad creator Vince] Gilligan and Frank. No one else wants to fucking say it, but the greed of Mad Men is killing the other two best shows on TV -- Breaking Bad and Walking Dead."

Click to expand...

Fucking Mad Men ruins everything!

Looks like the next season of The Walking Dead is going to be trainwreck. You would think they would take care their show with the biggest ratings, but no. AMC fired the original show runner and cheaped out, something that doesn't happen to MOST shows until around season five. The half the show taking place indoors idea is so fucking lame.

Unfortunately, they can't. AMC completely owns TWD, which isn't the case with Mad Men or Breaking Bad.

I wouldn't blame Mad Men for this mess. (And not only because MM is my favourite show on television) AMC' management clearly made a bunch of very bad decisions. And even after the budget cuts, they didn't have to fire Darabont.